A Guide for authors to the Publishing Process

Points to Consider While Writing Your Book

House Style Guidelines We recommend that our House Style Guide is implemented from the outset, since the task of re-editing your manuscript to comply at the last stage can be very laborious.

Delivery Date and Length The agreed delivery date of your manuscript is stated in the contract. We need to know of any delays as soon as possible so that we can agree a new date. We schedule books for publication up to 15 months in advance and it is imperative that we work from correct schedules to organize the production and promotion of your book. The contract also states a maximum length for your manuscript. If, while writing your book it becomes clear that the agreed length is unworkable, please let us know as soon as possible. We can generally accommodate minor changes in length (i.e. within 10%) but more significant changes will require serious consideration as they are likely to have an impact on the selling price and, in turn, on the sales potential of the book.

Permissions Permission from the copyright owner must be obtained for any third-party materials cited that fall outside the remit of ‘fair dealing’ conventions. For information on the interpretation of fair dealing in UK law, please consult our Copyright Guide for Authors, or the Society of Authors website. You should note that there is no fair dealing exemption for epigraphs, which always require permission, as do quotations of any length from poems, letters, lyrics and recipes. Artwork and images, including photographs, maps and line drawings also require written permission. Photocopies or scans of permissions granted must be submitted with your manuscript on delivery.

Artwork and Images The use of images and the number permitted will have been agreed with your Commissioning Editor and stated in the contract. Any changes to these specifications must be approved by your Commissioning Editor in advance of submission of the final manuscript.

Cover Design and Book Titles The sales cycle for your book may begin before you have completed the manuscript. Our designers will start working on the cover design approximately 15 months before the scheduled publication date. If you have ideas, or specific images in mind please discuss these with your commissioning editor well in advance. If you are considering a title change for your book, please discuss this with your commissioning editor as early as possible. Once your book has been advertised in a catalogue it will also have entered all the major bibliographic services internationally, with advance sales being generated. At this point it is unadvisable to consider changing the title.

Delivering Your Manuscript

Please ensure that the final manuscript has been proof-read and is as free from error or omission as you can make it. Corrections made at proofs stage are very expensive and costs will be passed on to the author. If English is not your native language, you should consider

1 having the book read by a colleague or professional editor who is a native speaker before submission. If you are the editor of a contributed volume, it is your responsibility to check through the entire manuscript, paying particular attention to any chapters by non-native speakers. We ask you to ensure that the chapters are consistent in style throughout the book, especially in terms of their notes and references. Please ensure that you include every element to be incorporated in the book, including (but not limited to):

• Title page • Table of contents • List of contributors • List of illustrations • Glossary • Foreword or Preface • Notes • Bibliography

The manuscript should be delivered electronically as an email attachment. It is helpful if you can include all the chapters and sections in one word file, using section breaks as separators. On receipt of the manuscript, the Commissioning Editor will check the word count and the number of illustrations to ensure that the book is in line with its contracted length and you will be informed of the next stages. Please inform your Commissioning Editor if you will be unavailable at any point during the production process. Any absence we have not been alerted to will have an impact as we work to very tight schedules. We also need to know if you do not plan to supply your own index for the book at proof stage, so that we can commission a freelance indexer. Following receipt and approval of the final manuscript, your Commissioning Editor will arrange handover to the editorial Production Editor.

The Editorial Production Process

You will receive a letter of introduction from the Production Editor, confirming receipt of the manuscript and outlining the route your book will take to make it ready for print and digital distribution.

The next stages are:

• Copy-editing • Typesetting • Proof-reading • Revision • Indexing

As a rough guide a standard schedule from handover to our production department to publication, for a non-complex, project-managed book is as follows:

• Copy-editing (4 weeks, with author queries arising in the 3rd week)

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• Typesetting (2 weeks) • Proof-reading and collation (3 weeks) • Revision (1 week) • Revises check and indexing (1 week) • Final correction (1 week) • Digital bundle creation (1 week) • Printing (5 weeks) • Delivery of bound copies to warehouse and distribution (4 weeks)

Copy-Editing

A professional copy-editor will be assigned to your book. The level of editing we request varies according to the needs of the project. It is usual for the copy editor to:

• Correct grammar, spelling and syntax • Check references and bibliographies for omissions and inconsistencies of style • Bring any suspected errors, omissions or duplications to your attention.

It is not usual for the copy editor to make stylistic interventions other than to implement our house style, or undertake any rewriting. Queries will be sent to you by the copy editor and it is your responsibility to supply answers by the requested deadline. All changes are then incorporated into the electronic text. Please note that you will not see the copy-edited manuscript.

Proof-reading

You will be sent printed paper page proofs and an electronic PDF format file. Please check these carefully since this is the last chance to make any amendments before the book goes to press. Only essential corrections (e.g. typographic errors) will be made at this stage. Once corrections have been made your Production Editor will supply revised proofs in electronic format for you to check, and to allow you to finalize the index if you are preparing it yourself.

Indexing

If you are preparing your own index, your Production Editor will supply you with guidelines. A list of headwords and subheadings may be drawn up at first proof stage but we recommend that page numbers are not added until revised proof stage, when the pagination of the book is secure. If you have opted for the services of a professional indexer, they will be asked to compile the index at first proof stage, and you will be sent the index to check at revised proof stage.

Printing

Once revised proofs have been approved, final artwork for the cover is submitted from the Design Manager. The Print Production Manager checks all files and sends them to the printer.

Publication

Advance copies of the book are checked by the Print Production Manager. On approval, stock is delivered into our warehouse, the gratis copied agreed in the contract are sent to the author

3 and arrangements are made to ship the book to our distributors around the world. As a guide, the UK publication date is approximately four weeks after receipt of bound copies by the publisher, and the US and Australian publication dates are eight weeks later – though this may vary according to where the book has been printed and what the key market requirements are.

Marketing your book

We will promote your book to the book trade and the academic market, including it in relevant catalogues, listing it on our website and exhibiting it at relevant academic conferences. In advance of submitting the manuscript you will be asked to complete a marketing questionnaire, which forms the basis of the marketing plan for the book and assists us with drawing up a review list. Please do alert us if you plan to attend a conference or other event at which you may be able to promote your book, as we may be able to supply flyers or other promotional materials. We would also be grateful for information on prizes for which your book may be eligible.

Rights

Your Commissioning Editor will negotiate rights deals for your book wherever possible. We attend all the major book fairs, including Frankfurt and London, which are the major marketplaces for rights sales. We are grateful for any contacts you may have with potential foreign language publishers, including any who have published your previous work. If you have already had a title published in translation please let us know the name of the publisher, the language, the publication date and any other relevant details.

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